Going back on what I said before

Yesterday's entry got me thinking about a few things.

I've argued before that our understanding of reality and our ability to communicate with one another is hampered by this disconnect between ourselves and our surroundings. I've argued that it is difficult - probably impossible - to find a perfect epistemological foundation. But, that is not to say that we haven't found a workable foundation of knowledge and communication.

The very rationale of science is to remove the observer from the equation. The scientific method is based on this principle. And as far as philosophy is concerned, we seem to exist ... which is something rational and workable.

It is often argued that we have no way of knowing whether two people, seeing red, can be assured that they see the same color of red. I would agree; however, the very fact that we all agree on the color wheel and the way colors blend and work together seems to imply that - with the exception of colorblind individuals - we are able to function as if we all did see the same color red. Similarly, huge groups of individuals seem to have similar tastes and enjoy similar foods ... on a phenomenal level when it comes to Americans and pizza, for instance.

Why do I bring this up? Well ... because I don't want my disconnect to be an excuse.

It would be too easy to say, "Well, what's the point of science or philosophy or religion if you cannot hope to prove anything?" This is the premise behind de-constructive philosophy and postmodern thought. On the contrary, even phenomenology is amazing in its own right! The fact that all of us might be experiencing the same thing at the same time implies functional universality.

I'm getting a bit deep in the weeds. I want to keep this entry simple and direct. The point is ... that all too often we attempt to escape reality through our actions and our habits. We try and escape reality by using drugs or alcohol or - on a smaller scale - through movie, television, books and the internet. Think of how many billions of dollars are spent each year on entertainment! And then think of the industry which has grown around our entertainers: not only do we pay to see them in movies; we also pay to learn everything about their lives and, indirectly, cause them to be hounded by paparazzi so that we can live an extravagant life, vicariously, through magazines. It is no wonder that The Osbournes, The Simple Life, and The Newlyweds were all so successful.

"Reality TV," as we all know, is a misnomer. We know that it's not reality for 99.99% of the population and yet we cling to the normal aspects of it and delude ourselves into thinking it's reality. "Look," we'll say, "Ozzy Osbourne is a multi-millionaire rock star and yet he still can't program a VCR -- just like me." Somehow this comforts us.

The problem is us. Psychologically, we are all prone to escape when life is difficult. Similarly, we don't like to take responsibility for our actions. These two impulses create projection and rationalization. Even the phrase, "What he doesn't know can't hurt him," is an illustration of our innate weasel-ness.

In a series of emails I was writing Dan and Shasta, I picked up an argument thread where I said that our morality is based on the degree we empathize with others. Later, I tweaked this to say that our morality is based on the degree we "own" things and relate things or people to ourselves. I will add to this argument that our happiness is based on how well we connect ourselves to reality.

Self-mastery is nothing more than gaining determination over our own actions. And our happiness is determined by a combination of self-mastery and harmonizing with ourselves and others. We have to discover a balance.